Difference
by Gymp
Summary: Change never happens over night, most times it isn't even noticed. But when a killer searching for humanity, and a girl afraid to look to the future meet, maybe not seeing the change will make all the difference. R&R.
1. Discovery

AUTHOR'S WARNING!! Graphic violence and Rape contained in the first four paragraphs. If you would be offended or are faint at heart, kip over them and go directly to the paragraph started in **bold** writing.

Disclaimer: No I don't own the rights to Riddick, or his universe, Rachel Gray, and any other characters you've never heard of before are mine. I thank the big wigs at Universal for not suing my ass for using their character.

**Difference**

_By Gymp_

"Hey bitch, hold still!" The voice was gruff, and the hands that pawed at her clothing hurt as she struggled to escape from someone's grasp. She didn't know what he looked like, only heard that barking tone and felt the rasping breath as it rattled from his lungs and was blown into her face. She could imagine the hygiene of the man was lacking some of the finer things, like a tooth brushing and a bath, but she couldn't be sure, all she knew was she had to get away. As she struggled harder, she felt her attacker's fingers dig into her arms as a bony knee forced its way between her kicking legs. Her body thrashed viciously under the man as he raised a fist and cuffed her upside the head with a balled fist. As she lay there, in the back of a dirty alley with a cold wall at her side and a plastic bag filled with garbage at her head, she glanced desperately towards the street as cars passed slowly, and people stood on the moving sidewalks waiting for their time to get off.

As the mans disgusting mouth bit at her neck, and his hands tore greedily at her clothes, she let loose a terrified scream that she hoped would gain the attention of one of the walk riders that passed less than twenty feet from where she lay, struggling in the darkness. She heard the man grunt as she tried to bite his ear, when she grazed his cheek instead, his fist flew towards her face and she lost all consciousness.

"Fucking Bitch, now you ain't gonna enjoy it, but thas' alright, Eddie boy here's gonna have 'nough fun for the two of us." He laughed heartily as he unbuttoned his pants and dug himself out. After a few satisfying jerks of his hand, he tore away the girls pants, spread her limp legs and drove forcefully into her. When he was done, he shoved himself back into his pants did them up and whipped out a knife.

Pushing apart the shredded remains of the girl's shirt he slowly and deliberately sunk the blade into her abdomen, chuckling with demented glee as the girl reacted to his torture in her unconscious state. It wasn't long after that the alley was empty, both victim and rapist having gone their separate ways.

**Rachel Gray** looked up from where she lay in the dark alleyway, unable to remember anything. The pain in her abdomen caused fire to spread through her body, which looked like a mangled and bloody mess. Turning her head slightly she looked out at the street through slitted eyes. A small delicate looking hand reached out desperately towards the roadway before her eyes closed again and with a strength that came from somewhere deep within, tried desperately to stand. With a cry of anguish and pain, she stumbled and fell, a hand clutched to her abdomen as she dragged herself to the entrance to the alleyway. No more that three feet away from the light of the street, she collapsed breath coming in shallow pants as she felt her life ebbing away from her.

…

Riddick was on his way to a meet up with his short term employer when the shit hit the fan. Riding the motorized sidewalks to cut down time, he jumped from one walk to another ever mindful of his surroundings and the people who stood near him. Wearing a pair of shaded glasses that he had shelled out a small fortune for, Riddick stood on the edge of the walk ready to flee into a darkened alley if the need arose. As he made a check of his surroundings he heard a rustle to his left and the pungent smell of blood rushed to his nose. Immediately instinct took over, and he easily hopped off of the slow moving walk and into a darkened alleyway. What greeted him was what could only come out of some horror novel that rich people liked to read. The scent of blood, new and old permeated the area. Stepping into the darkness, he hugged the wall as he took off his glasses and tucked them into his jacket pocket. Investigating the area gave him the idea that one sick fuck liked to play there.

It was the moan she let out that drew him to her. She lay behind a pile of garbage, arm stretched out in front of her in the fetal position. Blood covered her; he didn't need to see her to know that she was messed up pretty bad. Examining her quickly he checked her wounds, then checked her for id. Her wallet lay in the back of the alley, her id lay in a pool of her own blood, picking it up he stared at the school photo of her. He could tell it wasn't recent by the date on it, but the look, that all trusting look that he'd seen so many times before on a different face caused his guts to twist. With a sigh of disgust, he shoved her IDs back into her wallet, shouldered out of his coat and wrapped her in it. When he picked her up, he dug out his glasses and put them on before looking down at her battered face. A look of pain crossed his face as he cradled her small broken form in his massive arms. Walking to the end of the alley, he looked down at her one last time before stepping out into the lighted street and onto the walk.

In that moment he realized that the things he had been about to do didn't really matter, what mattered was seeing that the girl in his arms survived.


	2. Revelations

AN: Thank You for no flames.Disclaimer is the same as always.I own nothing except what you've never heard of before.

Difference - Revelations

Riddick ignored the looks of horror that followed him as he traveled through the city to the only place he knew could take care of her. As he traveled he could feel her getting colder, the blood that had flowed freely slowing down as less circulated through her body and her breath became all the more shallow. Holding her tightly to his chest he did what he could to keep her warm as he headed away from the populated areas to the ones less traveled.

The door he approached was nothing special, a dirty brown door in the back of an alley with a flickering bulb-hanging overhead. As he kick the bottom of the door, two kicks a pause then three, he looked up at that flickering bulb and questioned his reasons for coming here. A hospital would have been better, but in hospitals they asked questions. In hospitals, they had security and cameras. Here he could come and visit, and make sure that the kid in his arms pulled through.

_You're getting soft dickey_, his inner voice chastised as he waited for the door to open. He heard the subtle click, click, click, a pause and then the final click, as the locks that held the door closed slid free. With a push of his shoulder, the door sprung open, surprising the squat little man who stood behind it.

"My hours are eight 'til six, I'm closed" the man said gaining a growl from Riddick.

"I don't what your shit today," Riddick barked. "Tell me where to put her." He said his voice softening as he booted the door closed behind him.

"Down the hall to the left, second door on the right." The man said as he hurriedly went about the task of relocking the many bolts on the door.

Riddick took off, not worried about the man behind him. Finding the door, he shouldered the exam room open with some force and walked to the table that stood in the center of the room. Not bothered with the darkness, he ripped off the glasses and set them down on a vinyl-covered chair then began to strip the girl. He threw his blood stained coat on the back of the chair, then searching through his pockets added the girl's wallet to it. Pulling a shiv out of nowhere, he began to cut away the girls shirt, then eased her out of the remnant o her pants. Studying her, he was surprised to see bra and panties nowhere in sight. Then he noticed the blood that covered her thighs and the reality of the situation struck him dead on. The girl hadn't just been sliced and diced; she'd been raped too.

With an angry shout, he called the doc in, and then left him to do his business. He made use of another empty exam rooms' sink to clean him self up. He rinsed out his blood soaked shirt and cleaned up his arms and chest where the blood had started to dry. Rubbing a clean hand over tired eyes, he wrung out the shirt and laid it out flat, then collapsed into the chair in the little room and closed his eyes trying to think through what had happened in the past eight hours.

He had been on his way to pick up a credit chip. That's all it had been, a fucking cred chip from his last job. Another easy couple of hundred for taking out someone the CEO of some big shot company felt was getting a little too suspicious. Riddick had done it before, take a job, and then collect after showing the proof. The only thing he didn't like about this job was how quiet the boss wanted the killing to be kept. It wasn't like Riddick flaunted his killing, no. He did it out of necessity; he did it to survive, especially since he was on his way to his own self-exile. He figured, if he was going some cold iceball of a planet, he might as well do one last hurrah, and go out in style. Riddick had realized right after he took the job it was a stupid idea, especially with the Cooblikan probably on his ass for killing Janar and everyone else on that fucking mercenary ship. But the payday was something he knew if he ever needed he could fall back on, not like he'd have any real use for UD's where he was headed.

Riddick shook his head as that inner voice of his made its thoughts heard. _Not much of a liar Dickey, admit it, the pays just an incentive for you to play with blood. _

Riddick's thoughts were disrupted when the doctor walked past the exam room he sat in as he wiped a good amount of blood off of his hands with a white towel.

"Doc?" Riddick asked coming to his feet and making his way to the shadowed hallway. The doctor stood and turned around, his small frame clothed in scrubs splattered with blood. The man pushed a pair of glasses up his nose with the back of his wrist then continued wiping at his hands.

"She's alive, I just don't know if she'll stay that way." The doctor murmured, taking in the frown that creased his brow he explained. "She lost a lot of blood. I'm giving her an IV of plasma and real blood to get her going, but with all that knife work on her abdomen, I had to go in and repair her liver, stomach, and intestines. I don't know if she'll stay infection free. I'm not sure if she'll be all right. There was a lot of tearing, a lot of blood, and there's no way I can stitch it all up. It'll have to heal on its own."

"If she makes it," Riddick paused, "… will she make it?"

"If she survives the night, she'll be laid up for months. There isn't anyway to avoid that. If you were off planet, I'd say three weeks, but here on Lamoria Prime, Cloning tissues is illegal."

"Can you do it?" Riddick asked.

"Its illegal, it'll be three times what I would have charged you." The man explained.

"Yeah, and six times that anywhere else." Riddick scoffed.

The man turned, "let me get cleaned up, and I'll see what I can do." He walked slowly down the hallway, when he was out of sight, Riddick looked at the doorway that stood open at the end of the hall; it wasn't the exam room, which stood empty and dark, but a patient room. Standing outside the door, Riddick looked in on the girl, his eyes glowing in the light that reflected off them. Walking in, he stood back and watched as blood and a clear liquid dripped from IV bags into a tube that was connected to a vein in her arm. Small scratches marred her pale features along with several bruises which had begun to take shape after the reintroduction of blood to her system. Small electrical wires ran from points along her body to several machines that beeped continuously. Her body was tucked under the sheets of the bed she lay on while the white gown she wore lay loose, the tight bandages visible beneath the thin cloth. The only color on her was the shoulder length auburn hair that had been tucked into a shower cap during the surgury and now lay in small wet clumps spread across the crisp white of her pillow.

Riddick dropped heavily into a chair by the bed and cradled his head in his hands. His thought drifted to another girl, that he had left only months before, and he prayed that the same thing that happened here, never happen to her.


	3. Unexpected

AN: If you find the name Heather in this chapter please tell me and I'll fix it. When I first wrote this I named the girl Heather, and later changed it to Rachel.

Difference – Unexpected

Riddick jolted awake when the doctor returned, he had shut the door and a tray sat on a table by the bed, several needles gleamed in the low light. Riddick took one look at the concern on the man's face then stood up to leave. "You might want to get some sleep… this may take a while." The man said.

Riddick nodded then made his way out of the room. He went back and collected his shirt and the things he had left on the chair in the exam room then made his way to where he had come in. Spying a couch he lay down on it and after a few moments. Shut his eyes and went to sleep.

…

Two weeks later saw Riddick returning to the clinic with a duffle bag and a slight smile on his face. He had been to see her the night before and she had woken up. After the doctor had reassured her she was safe, Riddick had left to find out just who Rachel Gray really was. Now he was going back, and hopefully, she would be healed enough to walk around some.

Riddick approached the door in the back alley where at eight in the morning, the light above the door still flickered. Looking up, he frowned at the light, and then waited for the door to open. When he didn't hear the customary grinding of the locks, he set the duffel down and pulled a shiv out of hiding. Lightly touching the door, he was surprised to see it move. Pushing harder, he stepped back, waiting for an attacker. When no one came at him, he slipped inside and made a check of all the rooms. In the back hall, he found the doctor with his throat slit, the blood had begun to congeal and dry, and the Doctors pulse was missing in his cool neck. With a grunt Riddick pushed himself to his feet and began to search for Rachel. After making a silent sweep, he went into the back office and storeroom and found the storeroom in shambles. Examining the office, he saw the safe was missing, along with every sort of drug the place had had in it. When he went to leave he heard a quiet moan. Pausing, he reached out and shut the door. Not moving he waited until he heard a gentle sigh, then he spoke. "You gonna come out?" he heard an audible gasp come from the area of the desk. Crossing over to it, he put the shiv away then bent down next to it.

"I'm surprised Rachel; you got some survival instinct." At the sound of his deep voice she relaxed, remembering the man who was crouched down by the corner of the desk.

With wide eyes she looked out at him, and he winced. The yellow rings around her fading bruises made her look worse than she had before. Crouched there, she looked younger than the age listed on her files. But then again that was real time, and she had been kidnapped when she was twelve.

…

Rachel woke up suddenly, a scream frozen in her throat as her heart pounded in her chest. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to calm herself before looking around at her unfamiliar surroundings. She lay in a relatively long and narrow bed; the white sheets a close match to her own pale skin. Looking around the small room she noticed the sound proof padding that covered the walls and ceiling and the metal grating that served as a floor and easy to remove access panels. Several crates were stacked in the opposite corners of the room, taking up most of the space while a small light glowed dimly from its fixture in the ceiling. The windowless and steel plated walls had Rachel questioning her own sanity as she sat up in the bed and threw the covers off of her body. Examining the shirt she wore, she felt the tightly wrapped bandages around her chest and stomach shift, as she moved her tender body. As she let a soft swear past her lips, she let her legs drop off the side of the bed and with a considerable amount of both determination and strength, pushed herself up off the mattress. As she stood swaying slightly in the small room, her hands strayed to the hem of the black shirt she wore, tugging gently at it she inched the hem down to the middle of her thighs, then slowly made her way to the door of the room.

Pausing to rest against the doorframe, her small hand was reaching for the handle when she heard a muffled yell and a loud thump. Eyes wide with fear, Rachel twisted the knob of the door. When the door refused to open to her light push, she leaned harder on the door. When it remained closed she felt the fear rush through her. Releasing a strangled cry she clawed and banged on the door desperate to gain her release. After several minutes he cries turned to sobs as she sank to the floor, her back to the closed door. When Rachel heard more yells coming from the other side of the door, she let loose an ear-piercing cry. She didn't notice when the yells ended. The heavy footfalls that stopped in front of the door when unnoticed as Rachel continued to cry.

When the door opened, she was pushed forward on the metal grating. Letting loose a cry of surprise, she crawled away from the doorway as fast as her limbs could take her. When Riddick opened the door all the way it was to see Rachel her arms around her legs as she sat with her back pressed to the side of the cot she'd been sleeping on.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I heard screams." She whispered her eyes filled with fear.

Riddick sighed then walked into the room he sat down on the edge of the cot and watched as she shied away from him. A growl of irritation rumbled in his chest as she looked up him green eyes rimmed with unshed tears.

"there wasn't anyone screaming on this ship kid," Riddick said, then his thoughts turned to jack and the screaming she'd done when he dropped her and Imam off at New Mecca. She had raged at him for hours while they had waited in the stolen ship for Imam to secure a place to stay for the two of them. Imam had been unsure of Riddick's leaving, yet knew from their conversation on the skiff that he thought he was doing what was best for all three of them. "Least not for a while." He murmured then looked back down at the girl.

"You got a place to stay?" Riddick asked, and then mentally kicked himself. _Getting soft Dickey boy,_ he told himself as he stood to leave the room he paused in the doorway when she spoke.

"A cousin," She said the fear in her voice making it waver as she watched him make his way to the door. "I was staying with my cousin." She reaffirmed, hoping that her cousin really wouldn't mind if she suddenly showed up on his doorstep. Riddick grunted then continued out of the room.

…

Riddick sat in the small cockpit of the ship, one booted foot resting on an empty area of the forward control panel. Sighing heavily he tried to banish the image of Jack from his mind as she stood fear and so many other emotions flitting across her features, watching him walk away. He had seen that same look on Rachel's face as he walked into her room. The pain and anguish had mixed with the fear to leave her close to tears. And so many months in the past when he'd taunted Caroline Fry, told her that it was better if she went with him and left the rest behind. The pain of contemplating breaking a promise to a twelve year old girl in order to save herself, flashing in her eyes. _Forget about her dickey, humanity isn't going to help you; some noble sacrifice isn't going to keep them from dieing. They all die eventually. _He told himself as he leaned his head back on the hard head rest. "But what if I cant forget about them? What if I have to try anyways?" He asked his harsh whisper filled with the pain of indecision he himself felt.


End file.
